PLAYER OF THE YEAR

TYREES WHITFIELD

School: Cooper

Class: Senior

Height: 5-9

Weight: 195

Strength: Cooper coach Todd Moebes called Whitfield the complete package with his vision, balance, strength, speed, moves in the open field and abilities to run through tacklers, catch the ball out of the backfield and make plays in space.

2017 Highlight: Whitfield set a Cooper single-game school record with seven touchdowns against crosstown rival Abilene High, with six of those coming on the ground. Then later, he had more than 200 yards against El Paso Eastlake in a second-round playoff victory.

Coachspeak: “He did a tremendous job, I think,” Moebes said. “Certainly, his statistics speak for themselves. It’s a rarity that you have a guy that’s got 40 touchdowns. To be able to hit the 1,000-yard mark rushing is something everyone strives for, to be able to rush for over 2,000 yards is tremendous.”

Why he’s here: Whitfield was part of Cooper’s three-headed offensive monster rushing for 1,604 yards and 30 touchdowns on 213 regular season carries. The senior back added 20 catches for 232 yards and two more scores as a receiver out of the backfield.

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Cooper receiver Myller Royals, right, hauls in a 20-yard touchdown catch as Lubbock Monterey's Justin Jones, center, and James Langston defend. The catch cut Monterey's lead to 20-7 with 8:30 left in the second quarter. Monterey won the District 4-5A opener Friday, Oct. 13, 2017 at Lowrey Field in Lubbock.(Photo: Joey D. Richards/Abilene Reporter-News)

OFFENSIVE MVP

MYLLER ROYALS

School: Cooper

Class: Senior

Height: 6-5

Weight: 180

Strength: Royals' ability to be consistent and not have an off-night separated him from other talented receivers, along with his ability and willingness to block on the outside.

2017 Highlight: The Texas Tech signee hauled in three touchdowns in Cooper’s 42-21 win over Eastlake in the second round of the playoffs.

Coachspeak: “He had a great year,” Moebes said. “I think he broke 12 individual records and some of them have been around our program for 50 years. He certainly provided us to have a matchup issue on the outside because of his length and because of his size and speed. I think our offensive staff did a great job of being able to use that to our advantage.”

Why he’s here: Royals turned in a prolific season catching the ball, turning 67 receptions into 1,048 yards and 11 touchdowns in the regular season. He added a punt return and kickoff return for touchdowns, as well.

Snyder linebacker Leshun Burns(Photo: .)

DEFENSIVE MVP

LESHUN BURNS

School: Snyder

Class: Senior

Height: 5-11

Weight: 200

Strength: Ability to make plays all over the field. Whether it was getting in the backfield or moving laterally, Burns was always there to make a tackle.

2017 Highlight: Led a strong defensive effort in a 40-13 win over Big Spring that earned the Tigers a spot in the Class 4A Division I playoffs.

Why he’s here: Burns was where plays went to die. The senior linebacker finished the regular season with 131 tackles, 25 of them for a loss, with six sacks, three fumbles forced, three fumbles recovered and a blocked punt.

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

A.J. McCARTY

School: Brownwood

Class: Sophomore

Height: 5-11

Weight: 165

Strength: Can play any position. Got experience at quarterback, receiver and defensive back and was a big-play kind of player.

2017 Highlight: Every game this season had its moment for McCarty. There was no monster performance that stood out, but each time out he would find a way to impact the game.

Coachspeak: “When A.J. was a freshman, you could tell real quick he had a special talent,” Maxfield said. “You could tell he was ahead of the game. He had a great spring, went to state in long jump as a freshman. "We felt like he was going to be a big contributor. We weren’t sure where he would fit in, but we felt like receiver was going to be the best fit for him.”

Why he’s here: After missing much of his freshman year with a broken arm, McCarty burst onto the scene for the Lions this past season, catching 39 passes for 757 yards and nine touchdowns, while adding 81 yards and another score rushing and tallying 260 return yards for a total of 1,098 all-purpose yards.

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Stephenville coach Greg Winder speaks to assistand coaches on the headset during a 63-34 win over Pampa in a Class 4A DI area round game in Wichita Falls on Fri., Nov. 25, 2017.(Photo: Evan Ren/Reporter-News)

COACH OF THE YEAR

GREG WINDER

School: Stephenville

Strength: Winder gets the best out of his players. He also instills a feeling of belief that was big after a couple of down years by Stephenville standards. The pieces were in place to make a run this year, and that’s just what the Yellow Jackets did.

2017 Highlight: Stephenville suffered back-to-back losses against Graham and Lubbock Monterey before district play, but the Yellow Jackets rebounded with eight wins in a row. That meant a perfect run through District 3-4A Division I all the way through to the state semifinals.

Playerspeak: “He’s always fun to be around at practice,” said Easton Jones, Stephenville's three-year starting quarterback. “He always has a great spirit. He calls the offensive plays, but he’s with the defense all the time, always coaching everybody up, especially the younger guys. He doesn’t just focus on varsity, he builds a program by focusing on those younger guys.”

Why he’s here: Coming off seven total wins over the past two seasons, the Jackets went 12-2 in 2017. That included a district title, a win over state power Argyle in the Region I-4A Division I semifinals and a region title win over a strong Wichita Falls Hirschi squad.

FIRST TEAM

*—UNANIMOUS SELECTION

OFFENSE

ENDER FREEMAN

Quarterback

Cooper

5-9, 180, senior

Stats: Was the field-general for an explosive Cougar offense, throwing for 2,601 yards on 139 of 269 passing with 23 touchdowns to go with four rushing touchdowns during the regular season. The senior signal-caller was the Built Ford Tough Player of the Week in Week 2 and is a Class 5A finalist for Player of the Year.

TYREES WHITFIELD*

Running back

Cooper

5-9, 195, senior

Stats: Kept defenses honest, rushing for 1,604 yards on 213 carries with 30 touchdowns through the Cougars' first 10 games. The senior added 232 yards and two touchdowns receiving.

KRECE NOWAK*

Running back

Stephenville

5-8, 145, junior

Stats: What Nowak might lack in size he made up for in effort, finishing the regular season with 1,087 yards on 149 carries (7.3 yards per carry) and 10 touchdowns. Nowak also had four touchdowns and 354 yards receiving as the Yellow Jackets reached the Class 4A Division I state semifinals.

KOBE CLARK*

Wide receiver

Sweetwater

5-11, 170, senior

Stats: Was a touchdown machine for the Mustangs, reaching the end zone once for every three catches he made. Clark caught 67 passes for 1,473 yards and 23 touchdowns before the start of the playoffs.

MYLLER ROYALS*

Wide receiver

Cooper

6-5, 180, senior

Stats: Finished off a record-breaking career at Cooper with 1,048 yards on 67 receptions with 11 touchdowns, a punt returned for a touchdown and a kickoff returned for a touchdown.

RAEKWON MILLSAP

Wide receiver

Abilene High

5-11, 165, senior

Stats: Finished the year with 57 catches for 927 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also added two more scores on seven carries for 22 yards rushing.

JOSH ELLIOT*

Offensive line

Cooper

5-10, 255, senior

Stats: Graded out at 92 percent for the season with 52 pancake blocks.

TY’VON ANDERSON-ROBINSON*

Offensive line

Stephenville

6-0, 250, senior

Stats: The second-team Class 4A All-State lineman graded out at 92 percent with 72 pancake blocks and no sacks allowed.

LIAM MCCRAW*

Offensive line

Brownwood

6-1, 245, senior

Stats: Had 27 pancake blocks and graded out at 94 percent.

THOMAS SQUYRES

Offensive line

Cooper

5-10, 270, junior

Stats: Graded at 92 percent with 41 pancake blocks.

DEVON ROEMING

Offensive line

Stephenville

6-3, 230, junior

Stats: Did not allow a sack during the regular season, finishing with 67 pancake blocks while grading out at 91 percent.

CASON GRANT

Utility

Wylie

5-11, 170, senior

Stats: Did a little bit of everything for the Bulldogs this season, including rushing for 641 yards and seven touchdowns, while catching passes for 274 yards and three more scores.

CHASE CARRILLO*

Kicker

Stephenville

5-7, 155, junior

Stats: Was 48 of 51 on PATs this season and made both of his field goal tries with a long of 40 yards.

DEFENSE

PACEN PARKER*

Defensive line

Stephenville

6-4, 205, junior

Stats: Finished the year with 56 tackles (23 solo), 11 for a loss, six sacks and five quarterback pressures.

HAYDEN TUNNELL*

Defensive line

Brownwood

6-0, 195, junior

Stats: Had 66 tackles on the year, including 13½ for a loss and 5½ sacks, to go with two pass breakups and 21 quarterback pressures.

RYAN HAMAR

Defensive line

Wylie

6-3, 220, senior

Stats: Made 54 tackles, including 44 solo, eight for a loss and four sacks. He also had four pass breakups and five quarterback pressures.

ANTHONY ARELLANO

Defensive line

Cooper

6-2, 260, senior

Stats: Made 50 tackles (35 solo), 11 tackles for a loss, four sacks and one fumble recovery.

LESHUN BURNS*

Linebacker

Snyder

5-11, 200, senior

Stats: Made 131 tackles during the regular season, with 25 tackles for loss, six sacks, three forced fumbles, three fumbles recovered and a blocked punt.

KIANTE MCCOY

Linebacker

Sweetwater

6-0, 210, senior

Stats: McCoy’s prolific season included 112 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, eight sacks, two fumbles forced and two fumbles recovered.

BLU CAYLOR

Linebacker

Stephenville

6-1, 215, junior

Stats: Finished with 113 tackles, including 70 solo, seven for a loss and four sacks, while adding five quarterback pressures, three pass breakups and an interception.

KOBE CLARK

Defensive back

Sweetwater

5-11, 170, senior

Stats: Made 62 tackles, including four for a loss and one sack, while intercepting five passes, forcing three fumbles, recovering a fumble and scoring twice.

GAGE GRAHAM

Defensive back

Stephenville

5-10, 175, senior

Stats: Had 90 tackles (58 solo), with three tackles for a loss, two interceptions, four pass breakups and a forced fumble.

KY HOOVER

Defensive back

Sweetwater

5-10, 170, senior

Stats: Had 20 tackles, 20 pass breakups and six interceptions.

K.J. KELLY

Defensive back

Cooper

6-0, 185, senior

Stats: Finished with 59 tackles (43 solo), to go with eight pass breakups, four interceptions, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

JUSTIN WRIGHT

Utility

Cooper

6-2, 225, senior

Stats: Had 85 tackles, including 54 solo, 13 tackles for loss and five sacks, while adding four pass breakups, two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), two fumbles forced and a fumble recovery.

JUSTIN WRIGHT

Punter

Cooper

6-2, 225, senior

Stats: Averaged 39.2 yards on 22 punts.

SECOND TEAM

OFFENSE

CHRIS THOMPSON

Quarterback

Sweetwater

5-10, 170, senior

Stats: Threw for 2,983 yards and 36 touchdowns on 163-of-225 passing, while rushing for 447 yards and 11 scores.

GAVIN JEFFERSON

Running back

Brownwood

6-0, 215, senior

Stats: Rushed for 865 yards and 10 touchdowns, while adding 94 yards and two TDs receiving.

DANIEL AVILA

Running back

Sweetwater

5-8, 170, senior

Stats: Reached the end zone 12 times for the Mustangs this regular season, finishing with 150 carries for 805 yards and 10 TDs on the ground and 11 catches for 86 yards and two scores through the air.

A.J. MCCARTY

Wide receiver

Brownwood

5-11, 165, sophomore

Stats: McCarty’s first year of varsity football ended with 757 yards and nine TDs receiving on 39 catches. He also picked up 81 yards and another score rushing.

GATLIN MARTIN

Wide receiver

Wylie

5-9, 160, senior

Stats: Was a top target for the Bulldogs this season, finishing with 672 yards and 13 touchdowns.

WES BERRY

Wide receiver

Abilene High

5-11, 165, senior

Stats: Caught 66 passes for 637 yards and three touchdowns, while completing his only two passes for 27 yards and two more scores.

ETHAN GOSWICK

Offensive line

Snyder

6-1, 295, senior

Stats: Had 54 knockdowns and 22 pancake blocks, while grading out at 90 percent with just two sacks allowed.

LANE YORK

Offensive line

Stephenville

6-5, 242, junior

Stats: Did not allow a sack during the regular season, finishing with 67 pancake blocks to grade at 91 percent.

TIM BALDERAS

Offensive line

Cooper

5-11, 225, senior

Stats: The Cooper center had 38 pancake blocks and graded out at 90 percent.